AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Shares Acquired by Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.

Key Points

• Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 20.7% during Q2, raising its total holdings to 12,877 shares worth approximately $2.39 million.
• AbbVie announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, which will be paid to stockholders on November 14th, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 3.0%.
• Research analysts have shown positive sentiment toward AbbVie, with several updating target prices, including Wells Fargo raising it from $240 to $260, and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" based on prevailing analyst opinions.

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 20.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,877 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,205 shares during the quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,391,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,917,865 shares of the company's stock worth $36,439,271,000 after purchasing an additional 845,787 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,013,920 shares of the company's stock worth $4,612,357,000 after purchasing an additional 189,294 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 31.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company's stock worth $3,068,820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,187 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,771,854 shares of the company's stock worth $2,675,959,000 after purchasing an additional 713,148 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,058,706 shares of the company's stock worth $2,142,832,000 after buying an additional 1,882,780 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Daiwa Capital Markets raised AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup increased their target price on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $217.10.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total transaction of $8,407,055.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at $35,178,278.64. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total value of $2,639,190.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $218.40 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.81 and a 12-month high of $221.76. The company has a market cap of $385.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $200.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.52.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). The business had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The firm's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.38%.

About AbbVie

AbbVie Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Humira, an injection for autoimmune and intestinal Behçet's diseases, and pyoderma gangrenosum; Skyrizi to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic disease, and Crohn's disease; Rinvoq to treat rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, atopic dermatitis, axial spondyloarthropathy, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease; Imbruvica for the treatment of adult patients with blood cancers; Epkinly to treat lymphoma; Elahere to treat cancer; and Venclexta/Venclyxto to treat blood cancers.

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